I felt a wave of paralyzing fear wash over me when the demon turned its full attention to me. It felt like a physical weight had been dropped on my shoulders. It slowed my movements and dulled my senses. I lost all confidence in the countless hours spent drilling my swordsmanship against Idyia. Even my experience surviving the bloodiest battles in World War III amounted to nothing in front of this monster. The black, lightless flames coating its greatsword sucked away my will to live. My sword grip slacked and my weapon almost slipped out of my sweaty palms.

I was going to die.

This demon was going to kill me.

The only thing I could hope for was a quick and painless death.

The demon marched forward, towering over me. Its goat-like visage leered. I watched, powerless, as it raised its greatsword to split me in half from head to groin. Idyia screamed my name, but I couldn’t even muster the will to respond. It was hopeless.

I’m sorry, Rebecca. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.

«Fear Resisted.»

A prompt appeared in my vision and the weight of my inevitable death vanished like mist.

The demon’s sword came down like a guillotine. I didn’t have time to dodge backward, and if I leapt to the side, the demon would just adjust the angle of its attack, so I rolled forward into the demon’s space, tucking as tightly as I could and dove between the demon’s legs. I heard an explosion of metal against rock from where I just stood, but didn’t bother analyzing further. My back was to the enemy and I couldn’t spare a single moment to turn and reorient a proper counter strike. Instead, I trusted my Dexterity, flipped my sword into a reverse grip, and jammed it as hard as I could behind me, aiming for where I guessed was the demon’s knee based on its stance. Medieval armor was weaker near the joints to allow for flexibility, so I gambled upon that basic fact. The demon’s HP was like solid rock, but soon the satisfying feel of metal sliding through flesh crawled up my fingertips. I released the sword and scrambled forward and away to gain distance.

When I finally turned to face the demon, my sword was impaled hilt-deep into the back of its leg, just above the knee cap. My high Strength combined with my Familial Bonds gave me the power I needed to penetrate past the demon’s HP, flesh, and bone in a single strike. But I made one small miscalculation: I stabbed perpendicular to the ground instead of parallel to it. Had I made a parallel thrust, I would have probably cut off the entire leg at the knee.

The demon roared in pain and fury as it tried to dislodge the sword from its leg, but I didn’t give it any time to recover. I charged forward and poured every bit of my physical weight and metaphysical Attributes into a drop kick. My boots made full contact with the demon’s face, one of the demon’s goat horns broke off, and I sent it tumbling several yards away. I couldn’t lose the initiative now; I scrambled to my feet, pursued, then heel-stomped the demon’s sword hand as hard and as fast as I could. I crushed it along with the armored gauntlet after several attempts and then kicked away the greatsword. The sword’s black flames lit my leg on fire, but I didn’t care and continued to pummel the demon with kicks and stomps. I focused on one of its wings and snapped it off. The demon howled and finally managed to shove me away long enough for it to get onto one knee.

This time it didn’t try to remove the longsword stuck in its leg. It knew the moment it tried, I would charge at it again while its hands were occupied.

We were at a stalemate. I had no clean way to finish it off without a proper weapon and the demon could not completely recover enough strength to kill me without its greatsword and with its knee crippled.

My eyes narrowed and I glanced at my Map for a single moment; all the red dots sans the one I was engaged with were gone. It seemed to notice the change in my demeanor and I answered its curiosity by charging forward. I scooped a handful of stones and threw them as hard as I could at the demon’s face. Some may cry foul play, but this wasn’t a duel. It was a battle for survival.

The demon raised its good arm to shield its eyes. The dirt and stones, thrown with every ounce of my Strength, loudly battered the demon’s gauntlet, but that momentary distraction was enough.

Like a true Assassin, Idyia attacked from behind the demon. Her twin blades struck like bolts of lightning and smoothly sliced its head off its shoulders. The head tumbled and rolled off to the side, an expression of shock and confusion permanently plastered across its face.

Idyia and I stared at each other for a few seconds as silence reigned over the battlefield. There was no communication between us; no grand master plan to lure the demon into a trap, just a simple mutual understanding of each other’s dispositions and abilities honed through constant interaction and daily sparring. Even so, this level of improvisation and tactical adjustment was hard to achieve even among the most skilled and closest of elite soldiers. Though Anna and Lydia both held a special place in my heart, Idyia truly was my first partner in this world; she a comrade in arms I could entrust my life to. There was only one way I could sum up how I felt:

“Good kill.”

“Your leg’s on fire.”

“Wha- OH FUCK!”

I dropped into a roll while Idyia desperately tried to put out the flames with her cloak. I had no idea why, but the fire took much longer to douse and by the time it was out, my HP had dropped to 75%, I was missing a pant-leg, and Idyia’s favorite cloak was reduced to a glorified face towel. When it was finally gone, I allowed myself to relax, eagle-spread across the ground. I looked up at Idyia, who was scanning the sky. She was probably looking for Renala. She whistled loudly several times and I also sat up to analyze the situation.

Idyia was covered in fresh blood, but her HP was over 50%, which meant none of the blood was hers. The demons lay dead with their vitals all sliced open; she carved through them with expert precision and accuracy, like a surgeon with a scalpel. A quick look at my Map told me there were no more demons within my detectable range. Idyia had killed all the adds, just like I ordered. But that perfect ambush just reinforced the idea that she was an Assassin at heart.

Flash. Sneak Attack. Shadow Walker. Her three Skills synergized so perfectly I questioned my own value as a Hero. The only reason I was still alive was because of my overpowered Map. Without it, I was certain Idyia would have easily assassinated me when we first met.

Renala eventually responded to Idyia’s whistling and swooped down from the sky now that the area was clear. She quickly started burning all the demon corpses with her golden flames. I had no idea why the wyrmling was so hellbent on attacking and burning the demons to ash, but I didn’t question it for now.

I recovered enough to stand and meandered to the demon leader’s corpse. The greatsword still flickered with black fire and I mourned the loss of my castle-forged longsword. According to Lydia, it was one of the best blades in her castle’s armory. It was now covered in demon blood and bent at the base. As a weapon, it was probably less than worthless.

Idyia checked Renala for injuries and kept close to the wyrmling while I collected what arrows I could salvage. I found several dozen of Renala’s scales, which had been beaten or cut off from her hide during the battle. They were surprisingly sturdy and I had to put quite a bit of effort into bending one. My Strength wasn’t low, so it meant Renala’s scales, even while immature, were extraordinarily hard. I shoved them all into my pockets. I could find a use for these later.

I watched from afar as Renala’s golden flames devoured the black flames and eventually burned away all traces of it. The wyrmling spent quite a while on the greatsword and when she was done, there was nothing left but molten slag. Only after all the flames had died away did the city gates open and allow the survivors to pile through. I narrowed my eyes and used my magnified vision to spot a nobleman in a watchtower that presided over the entire area.

A squad of soldiers soon marched through the gates and approached us in the aftermath. When I looked back up at the tower, the man was gone.

“Lord Belmond of House Dolor extends his gratitude and welcome to the brave warriors who have slain the demons terrorizing his lands.” The guard’s voice was grave and his eyes were evasive. I realized this was the same man who denied Idyia and I entry earlier in the afternoon.

I had to resist the urge to quip back. Idyia wore her usual mask of apathy, but that just made her appear absolutely frigid. There was palpable tension between all of us, so I stepped in.

“I want a meal, a bath, and a room for my partner and I. We can discuss Lord Belmond’s… hospitality later.”

I took grim satisfaction in watching the guard break into a cold sweat. He knew exactly what I was referring to.

“O-Of course, please follow me,” the guard spun on his heel and pushed the crowd of commoners aside for us to pass. I wanted to stop him from clearing the road in such a heavy-handed manner but Idyia grabbed my arm.

“This is just how things are done. Intervening now could make things worse for the peasantry, when you aren’t there to stop the guards from venting their frustration,” Idyia whispered. I swallowed my distaste and followed after.

We made for quite a sight as we passed the locals: a guarded escort, a beautiful Dark Elf, a man in burnt military fatigues from another world, and a golden dragon. The Lord’s keep was larger and more fortified than the others we passed while roaming the countryside. This made sense; the keep also functioned as a part of Renalis’ border defense.

We were given a very large room and left our belongings there to make for a much needed bath, however, Renala refused to be left in the stable. Just shoving her through the doors was an embarrassing nuisance. I would have to wean her off sleeping with us as soon as possible. Even taking a bath was difficult, since Renala took over half of the entire tub, which looked like it was built to house at least ten people. Idyia and I spent almost an hour thoroughly washing her; almost a week passed since her last good scrubbing and she was starting to smell foul. The one upside to having Renala in the tub was that her natural body heat made the water much hotter, giving me the rare chance to experience a hot bath.

Idyia seemed to have the same idea and we both stripped and quickly slipped into the bath. I had to push Renala’s tail out of the way to make space.

“How are you feeling?” I finally asked, just to fill the silence between us.

“I’m alright,” Idyia inspected her body for a few moments. Her HP was still intact, so she had no wounds, but it would take a few days of rest for her to regenerate her HP. I was in a similar situation.

“My cloak suffered the most. I’ll need a new one.”

“Really? You look better without it.”

Idyia ran a hand through her hair. “It’s a practical and professional concern. But your preference is noted.”

She cracked a smile and pulled her hair to the side then turned her back toward me. I recognized the gesture and retrieved what was left of her cloak to wipe down her back. She repeated the gesture for me and after we were finished washing, we simply sat next to each other, basking in the heated water. I closed my eyes and felt Idyia’s weight shift against mine. She’d fallen asleep on my shoulder. It finally occurred to me that she used Flash extensively during the battle, which explained how she was able to quickly dispatch so many demons by herself. I didn’t want to wake her, so I resigned myself to spending at least an hour in the bath.

“Levin?”

My eyes popped open at Lydia’s voice echoing through Telepathy Group.

“Lydia?”

“Did you make it Lord Belmond’s territory today?”

I sighed and mentally recapped what happened. Lydia taught me how to send telepathic images along with words, so I could better illustrate the battle.

“I'll chastise Lord Belmond for ignoring my family's insignia. But it's good you’ve slain the Greater Demon. The ones that can teleport other demons enmass are always some of the most problematic. I wanted to follow up with you. Your request to the Kingdom of Avalon was approved by King Arthur. They also want to test your merit as a Ranger and if you’re worthy of wielding Sir Tristain’s legendary bow. After you finish patrolling the border for any other demons, we’ll all go. I still need to reestablish a proper diplomatic and economic relationship with Avalon. I need a month or two to solidify my position in Renalis first, so take your time… grinding. Or whatever you called it.”

“Sounds good to me,” I was eager to see even more of the world, so the prospect of traveling was fantastic. “How about Anna?”

“I am well, Levin,” came Anna’s answer.

“Anna has been enjoying her elevated position in my household and in her church. The Church of Fertility happily supports Anna’s desire to bare your children,” Lydia teased.

“The Church of Fertility’s blessings also encompasses agriculture and livestock! It’s not all salacious!” Anna complained.

I smiled as the two shot quips and jabs at each other. I missed them and these conversations reminded me of the calls I would share with Rebecca. Before long, Idyia had finally awakened and I said good night to Lydia and Anna so we could finally get out of the bath.

“Miss Anna and the Queen seem well,” Idyia stretched and yawned. I think she caught the tail end of our conversation.

“Yeah. Lydia is still weeding out traitors and repairing her standing. It’s all political bullshit. I can’t really help or understand most of it.”

Idyia shook her head. “You fool no one. You choose not to get involved because you don’t approve of the Queen’s methods of eliminating traitors and sedition.”

I couldn’t refute that. And any reply tasted like bile in my mouth. If I really wanted to, I could contribute as a spy or something like what Idyia and her people do for Lydia. Instead I chose to gallivant across the countryside.

But Renala finally stirred and stomped toward the door to shake me out of darker thoughts. It looked like she was also satisfied with her bath. Idyia and I exchanged a glance and sighed at the same time.

We spent the next few minutes pushing Renala through the doors until we finally made it back to our rooms. We barely managed to avoid structural damage to the doorways, but the groaning and cracking sounds echoing each time we pushed was ominous.

“Renala,” I patted the wyrmling on her nose. “From now on, you have to sleep outside.”

The dragon snorted loudy in reply and I rolled my eyes. I’d have to tackle this particular problem later. I told Idyia to take the bed despite her protests while I made myself comfortable on a lavish couch. I stretched over it and yawned then stared at the ornate and unfamiliar ceiling until I heard Idyia’s gentle snores fill the silence.

With moonlight being the only thing illuminating the room, I finally got to focus on my Status. Killing the Greater Demon gave both Idyia and I a level-up. I don’t think she knew yet because she couldn’t access her Status as freely as I could, so I planned on giving her the good news after she got some sleep.

But like any true min-maxer, I couldn’t wait to fiddle with my character sheet. I don't think I could sleep peacefully until I at least looked at it.

«You have attained 6th Level.»

«You gain four Attribute Points.»

«You gain two Skill Upgrades.»

I tugged pensively at my stubble.

So the legends were true. My Class and Subclass are leveled simultaneously. At 4th level, I only got two Attribute Points and one Skill Upgrade. My HP and MP are even calculated twice over as if I really have two Classes. That means Heroes really have twice the potential strength of a normal person. No, wait, I think my MP from Dragon Rider is calculated using Charisma. I noticed the difference in values; my HP was obviously calculated solely based on my Constitution, whereas my Ranger half of my MP pool was derived from Intelligence or Wisdom.

I reached into my Bottomless Dufflebag and scavenged for a thick piece of dried venison to chew on while I gathered my thoughts.

“Congratulations, Love.” Echoed Lydia’s voice. I raised a brow.

“Are you peeking into my mind, again?” I shot back through our telepathic bond.

“Mmhm. You are mulling over your Status Window out loud, so to speak, so it is easy to eavesdrop. Your mental shields are also not as strong as you believe. It is like hearing a conversation through a wall. Your thoughts are faint and muffled, but if I press my ear against the wall, I can hear you.”

“Why are you still awake? Is Anna listening too?”

“Pfft, I am not a child, Levin. And no, Anna should be asleep by now. She wakes up earlier than I do. Sometimes I regret promoting her.”

“And what are you doing?”

“Economic restructuring. Some of our neighboring nations have finally replied and wish to reopen old trade routes. It is quite dull. I would rather help you. It is not everyday you Level.”

“I hit 6th Level in less than two months.”

“For normal people. Oh, I also reached 4th Level two days ago.”

“That’s awesome! Wait, who or what did you kill?” My mental tone shifted. Experience was commonly earned through combat, specifically killing. Most of the other ways, such as meditation, offered so little gains it was pointless unless you were on the cusp of leveling.

“There were some insurrectionists still festering around the capital, so I led a team of Royal Guardsmen to burn them out, personally.”

“Lydia-”

“No, Levin. I understand you came from a country with freedom and… democracy-”

“Wow, was it really that hard to say?”

“-BUT,” she pressed, “that is not my kingdom. Don’t worry, I’m not just mindlessly killing innocent people.”

“Ugh, this conversation is too draconian,” I felt a headache coming on.

“Hilarious.”

“Yeah, it was, wasn’t it?” It was a habit for me to make jokes in these sorts of situations. Most soldiers had dark and morbid humor. It was a coping and defense mechanism for all the bloodshed and trauma we had to deal with.

“Do you regret siding with me?” Lydia’s voice was suddenly timid for once.

“...No. Just promise me you’ll make all the death worthwhile.” I sighed heavily, and I felt my blood boil when I compromised my personal morals. There was no ‘innocent until proven guilty’ in Lydia’s kingdom. Sure there were trials, but she was judge, jury, and executioner. And in order for me to continue loving her, or even tolerating her, I had to bend my own worldview to the point of breaking.

“I know it’s hard for you. I promise I’ll do everything I can to make my kingdom flow with milk and honey.”

“Can you give the Dark Elves equal rights?”

“Now you’re asking for miracles, Levin. People hate and fear Dark Elves on a near instinctual level because of their demonic heritage, but I can try to gradually improve their situation.”

“A surprisingly diplomatic answer from a tyrant.” I scoffed.

“I’m still consolidating my political, economic, and military powerbase. Give me some time and we can work on long-term cultural and religious reform later. I also have to convince the various Churches to accept my proposals. I don't have full control over them. They may decide to launch a holy crusade to purge heresy from my kingdom.”

“I know, I’m just fighting to fight.”

“Anna told me to be more open minded,” Lydia’s tone was patient. “Not every girl falls in love with a dimensional traveler. But by the gods, democracy? How long do you honestly think that’s going to last? Renalis has existed as a matriarchy for almost 2,000 years, aside from the small time when my father ruled.”

“Uh-huh, but you still don’t have running water or air conditioning, so I win.”

“Speaking of, I want to pick your brain for some technological improvements we can make to the kingdom. A city of dwarves live in the Renalis volcano, so…”

“You want me to grant you eldritch knowledge from another world?”

“You want running water, right?”

“Fine. You’re lucky. For some reason, my memory has improved. Things that I forgot in school are as vivid to me as the day I learned it.” Hell, even the random and obscure science and history videos I watched on the internet were coming back to me.

“A consequence of high Intelligence is near perfect memory. It’s as much a blessing as it is a curse. Have you been having nightmares?”

“Not really, but I do have a Skill that blocks fear and charm effects, so that’s probably why.”

“Blessed by the gods, indeed. So, is that a yes?”

“Yes, I’ll give you what I can. We’ll start with something called a steam engine. So should I expect out of Dragon Rider?” I dragged the conversation back to our original topic.

“Well, it’ll help Renala, undoubtedly. And it will give you an opportunity to see what possibilities exist within the Subclass.”

“Have you heard of Dragon Rider before? Do you know what it can do?”

“Yes. At least, in part. It's misnomer; it focuses mainly around raising dragons as opposed to riding or subjugating them. The details are hazy at best because it's such a rare and obscure Class, but it stands to reason Lord Bahamut gave you Dragon Rider and caused the last dragon egg to hatch at the same time. Despite her age, Renala is the final child of Lord Bahamut and Goldfire Renala; she is a true demigod. She will contribute more to your Quest if your Subclass makes her more powerful.”

So Bahamut benefits if I make Renala as strong as possible. I knew his intervention wasn’t completely altruistic. I made sure to shield these thoughts from Lydia. I knew how much she disliked it when I spoke negatively about her god and her faith.

“But isn’t Renala important to your powerbase? You’ll just let me take her out on adventures? To kill a demon god?” I asked after the mental pause.

“If I could stop her, I would. But I know better than most how futile it is to go against a dragon’s desire. She wants to travel with you, Levin. So you might as well make the most out of it. Besides, you two are part of my powerbase even if you aren’t in Renalis.”

“Like an aircraft carrier on deployment, I get it.”

“Yes,” Lydia’s tone suggested she had no idea what I was talking about but agreed anyway just so she didn’t sound ignorant.

“I miss you,” I suddenly said, finding her ignorance endearing.

“I know. Come home soon. Anna has been working on that ‘pizza’ thing you told her about. It’s absolutely divine. I’m sure you’ll love it.”

“OH HELL YES!” I shouted. My favorite sin was gluttony, after all.

“Master Levin?!” Idyia leapt from the bed, a knife in one hand, her eyes were sharp and her hair was bedraggled “Is there an enemy?!”

“Uh... no sorry. I’m talking to Lydia.”

Idyia shot me a withering glare then shook her head and crawled back under her sheets. “Not all of us can just ignore sleep deprivation. Good night.” Her voice was clipped. It was obvious she was pissed off. Neither of had slept in a bed in awhile, so I empathized with her attitude and didn’t press. I wanted her to enjoy the creature comfort as much as possible.

“I’ll call you back.” I sent Lydia a final message and heard nothing in reply, which meant she was either sleeping or focusing back on her paperwork. I decided to take her advice and leveled Dragon Rider.

I spread all the points evenly into Strength and Dexterity, rounding out all of my stats except for Charisma, which would become my dump-stat at this rate.

For my Skill Upgrades, I decided to split them across both Classes. From Ranger, I upgraded Select Fire. That allowed me to choose special ammunition types. Some were realistic, such as armor piercing or hollow points rounds, but one was clearly leaning into fantasy: Elemental Rounds.

Dragon Tamer was the only Skill I could upgrade from my Subclass, so I took a look at the options and was absolutely floored.

Lydia was right! These Skill Upgrades are insane!

I threw a glance at Renala. She was less than a month old, so I had to capitalize on her growing phase as much as possible. I had to reckon with the realization that Renala’s strength would determine whether or not I returned to Earth and Rebecca.

I took one final look at my updated character sheet and smirked. I waved away my Menu and finally settled down. My next course of action would be to turn Renala into my familiar and capitalize on Dragon Rider. But first, I needed to get some sleep.

 

Skills
Comprehend Languages	The user can read, write, speak, and listen to any and all languages with total fluency. Source: Goddess of Balance, Seras
Select Fire	For any ranged attack, the user may choose to fire in three modes: semi-automatic, three-round burst, and fully automatic. Special Ammunition: Armor Piercing, Hollow-Point, Soft Point, Explosive, High Velocity, Tracer, Elemental, Binding, and Seeking. Source: Marksmanship
Telepathy (Group)	Adds the Squad Chat function to the Menu. The user may designate up to three Squad members to benefit from this ability. Source: Communications and Tracking (Unique)
Movement and Tracking System	Adds the Map function to the Menu. Map data can now be shared between Squad members. Source: Survival, Communications and Tracking (Unique)
Familial Bonds (Special)	Gains resistance to Charm and Fear. Also increases melee damage. Source: Devotion (Unique)
Designated Marksman	Ranged attack distance is doubled. The user can magnify their vision up to a number equal to their Wisdom. Source: Marksmanship.
Dragon Tamer (Special)	The user can designate one willing creature with a draconic Aspect to be their Draconic Companion. Your Draconic Companion gains an additional Attribute Point for each Level. Source: God of Righteous Dragons, Bahamut; Devotion (Unique), Communication and Tracking (Unique)